A Change I Never Wanted
by Absol Master
Summary: I have lived all my life in Lith Harbor. And suddenly...my parents must break this piece of news on me, on New Year's Eve. Now I fear...I will never be able to leave my old home, with all my memories, behind, when we leave tomorrow...


HAPPY NEW YEAR! This is for CrapPishh's fanfic challenge. A little late for new year...Enjoy!

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Updated version! On second thought, this _isn't _for CrapPishh's fanfic challenge, unless she suggests otherwise. But I'll work my hardest on it anyway.

Oh yeah, go read my profile for the FF awards!

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A Change I Never Wanted

I look out beneath the black velvet sky, over the shining mirror ocean, under a moon that casts pure light upon the breezes and waves. All around me is the gentle swell and ebb of the shining ocean, the rush of every gentle brush of the vast waters on their distant banks.

In the freezing wind of the winter, I can still feel the tears of hurt that seemed to have frozen tracks on my cheeks. I still feel all watery inside my head, after crying so hard, after hearing what my parents uttered just a few minutes ago.

I still don't believe that this is real! They simply broke it on me like that, something so shocking. It left me no time to gather myself. I simply broke down, and ran here.

"It has grown too dangerous. We are going to Southperry."

But why? I still fail to comprehend. Yes, of course, because the growing number of Necromancers in the region. It has grown dangerous. We might die. But leaving Lith Harbor? It means…leaving so much behind.

Yes, you can say that I have an unnaturally childish attachment to my home; you can laugh at me. But that is exactly what it is. I can't leave, not now, not after all the memories I have built upon the earth of this land.

Where will it all go? My security. The home I have known for the last ten years. The training grounds whose every boulder and tree I have already memorized, the days my friends and I spent racing about them in ecstatic joy, fighting monsters, in search of the items we needed.

The friends whose smiles I can never forget, whose voices I could never have lived without. The sun, the sound of the waves, the close voice of the ocean that I have grown to love—what of them? Where will my heart go, after we leave?

_The waves. _I sighed, bringing myself to rest on the cairns of boulders close to the beach. Tomorrow, we would be crossing those blue waters, towards a land that I hardly know. Will I ever survive there? The waves and wind and sand there will be different. Everything will be different from here.

The wind whistles gently, caressing me, whispering words of comfort in my ears.

Warm tears are falling again, making everything before me a huge blur. The moonlight becomes shimmering starburst, the luminescent ribbon it threw across the sea was an unending river of light.

What a funny way to twist words, I think to myself. New Year was a time for new beginnings. And here I was, on New Year's Eve, confronted with a beginning that I don't want, a page that I wish will not be turned. How will I ever grow accustomed to a new life, wrought upon me so suddenly?

It is no wonder that I cry so much. It will be so much to take, but there is nothing, not a thing I can do to change this. It is so strange, feeling so helpless! I wish I could cling to the rocks as my parents depart, so that no one can drag me away from here, for ever and ever. I want to be with my sweet home, my beautiful, deepest friend.

And that would break their hearts.

Looking at the sky, eyes clear, I see a galaxy of dancing stars, forming a painting whose meaning all have yet to decipher. The sadness still aches, so deep in my heart. Every time my mind visits that thought, tears are once again tickling my eyelids, threatening to flow once more.

It is for the better, I keep telling myself. If we were to die here…that fate is worse. It is worth the small price of leaving my home behind, isn't it? Leaving my first home behind, the home that had brought me up, …eternally.

Yes, this attachment is stupid! I am eleven. I should have a better grip on my emotions.

Tonight is the last night, and suddenly, everything around me seems to grow so much more beautiful and amazing a hundredfold. The wind, that familiar touch of inhuman hands, strong and assuring like a mother's, is pleasantly chilly. It gives me goose bumps. It seems to sing a lullaby to me as I lie against the rocks, ever so comfortable now—a tune that tears my heart, moves even my soul to tears. It is a song I will never hear, starting from tomorrow, to eternity.

I shiver with the thought, of my world suddenly being left, without all this around me.

But then, I look up at everything once more. The moonlight is dancing on the waves, the stars peeping between the downy wisps of clouds that seem to glow under the moon. The ever-flowing current of wind continues to awaken my deepest realizations, and I finally see everything for what it is—

Somewhere, deep into the washing waves and eddying wind, into the dark sable of the night, lies my new home. We share the same wind, the same ocean. The same moon and stars of the boundless sky. New beginnings are always possible, as long as one is willing to embrace the changes. Some way or another, it will work out…

My eyes are dry. That distant future home of mine suddenly doesn't seem so distant anymore, for my home will always be there, just across the deep, deep sea.

_Thank you, Lith Harbor. For every moment you watched over me and held me in your safety. I wish you luck for the times that are ahead. Stay strong...my friend._ _Even if I am not around to see your success._

Then the stars seem to brighten over my eyes, and though my doubt lingers, I know I will be able to face tomorrow, face the journey that will take me away from Lith Harbor until the end of time.

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It is early morning. A new year has dawned. The boat rises and falls slightly as we cross the calm water of the bay, the same waters that sang me to sleep the night before.

Has the new year really begun already? It means a new page, a new chapter. I somehow feel more ready than I did last night, standing on the deck, knowing that I am past the point of no return.

There, floating on the boat, just beyond the beach, I can see everything—the tall pine tree that we so often gathered around for a break after hunting, the beach that huge families of pigs inhabited, every distinct building that lines the coast of the ocean.

The days of laughter seep into my mind, sending pangs of nostalgia up my throat. I will never forget that feeling, of the sweat running down my back, the ache in my arms and legs, as I drink a little bit of red potion, one hand rested on the sturdy bark of that tree. I will never forget the smiles and laughter of everyone I got to know in that beautiful, quaint town, every favour and errand I ran for each of them.

Ah, the mist is still so thick, for it is early. We drift slowly through it, the air cold yet windless on my skin. Memories drift before my eyes, each bringing a little more sadness, a little more longing to my heart.

This is a change…I never really wanted. Yet it is necessary. All I can do now is to hope for the best, and accept it all, believe that new friendships and memories can be forged from this new land I am about to enter. But I will never, never allow it to be forgotten—this town, where all my dreams began, where the world first introduced itself to me, and became my closest friend.

The mist has grown so white, almost opaque. Slowly, we drift further and further from Lith Harbor, from its every white stone, every branch and boulder and grain of sand. The wind is rising around us again, giving us fair speed, singing us gentle songs as we head on bravely towards Southperry, towards the year that now waits for all of us, beckoning.

_Maybe, old friend, I will see you again. Once everything has ended. Some way…_

And as I watch, the curtains of mist are drawn, and the town upon the coast vanishes.

_From my sight, but never from my world. _

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Happy 2009, everyone! May your wishes come true.

Oh yeah, this is my 100th fic! Yay, hundredth fic on New Year!


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